Twitter to U.S. Spies: No More Access to Data

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Dataminr provides real-time updates and alerts for world events, and Twitter has stopped agencies such as the CIA from accessing the service.

Keeping up with the torrential number of tweets that Twitter processes is difficult for any user, and the company has just made that task even harder for the U.S. government. Twitter no longer lets American intelligence agencies access Dataminr, a service that rapidly analyzes real-time public tweets for patterns and breaking news.

Credit: MrMohock/Shutterstock

(Image credit: MrMohock/Shutterstock)

The service gave U.S. intelligence services a heads-up about last November's Paris terrorist attacks just after they began, the WSJ said. Dataminr sent notifications to all its clients about March's Brussels terrorist attacks 10 minutes before any news outlet transmitted the story. This kind of open-source intelligence (OSINT) makes Dataminer "an extremely valuable tool," an unnamed U.S. intelligence official told the newspaper.

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The same official told the WSJ that Twitter blocked agencies such as the C.I.A. from accessing Dataminr because the company was concerned about the "optics" of a close relationship with American intelligence agencies.

The Journal did not specify when the cutoff occurred, but it presumably took place in the wake of the high-profile battle between Apple and the FBI over encrypted data on an iPhone used by one of the shooters in last December's terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California.

In a statement to USA Today, Twitter declared it "never authorized Dataminr or any third party to sell data to a government or intelligence agency for surveillance purposes." The story does not make clear whether Dataminr sold or simply gave its data to the U.S. intelligence community.

Twitter holds a 5 percent investment stake in Dataminr. The WSJ says Dataminr is the only company that Twitter has authorized to mine and sell data from the entire body of public tweets. However, that doesn't stop anyone from mining data from public tweets for private purposes.

Dataminr apparently began supplying data to American spy agencies after it gained another investor: In-Q-Tel, the U.S. intelligence community's venture-capital arm. According to the WSJ, the working relationship between Dataminr and In-Q-Tel began as a trial-based pilot program, one that Twitter has now told Dataminr it should not continue.

Going forward, U.S. intelligence agencies will likely create their own tools for acquiring Twitter data, or perhaps obtain the information from a third party. Dataminr still has an active, valid contract to supply real-time alerts for world events to the Department of Homeland Security.

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Henry T. Casey
Henry T. Casey

Henry was a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • Ralston18
    Curious about the legalites here:

    Does Twitter then become an accomplice or otherwise liable if something happens and the information was basically being "withheld" or otherwise blocked to law enforcement resources by Twitter?

    And if a third party (not CIA directly) is used to gain the data that solves some terrorist act then can that data be thrown out of court because the CIA was not supposed to have, per Twitter, said data?

    If other agencies have access (e.g., the mass media) are they then liable for not passing along data that indicates an upcoming attack or shows who may be responsible.

    I know you are only the messenger here.

    But I also know why I do not use Twitter or tweet. And will not in the future......

    Reply